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https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17855-Children-aren-t-born-Racist&goto=newpost
Sun, 07 Jun 2020 03:43:30 GMTI found this short article interesting and in keeping with Buddhist ideas on who we are and how we become so, and how our self-identity is a...I found this short article interesting and in keeping with Buddhist ideas on who we are and how we become so, and how our self-identity is a construct in so many ways.

Children need not be like their parents or grandparents.

I always say that Zen is about dropping "divisions and judgments from mind." Certainly, there are some divisions and judgments which we can particularly learn to do without.

===========

Children aren't born racist. Here's how parents can stop them from becoming racist.

Quote:

Some parents of white kids, meanwhile, fear they'll raise children who will grow up to be racist -- if not the kind of racist who suffocates a man with a knee to the neck, then the kind who will quietly commit microaggressions.

How, they wonder, can we raise kids to be anti-racist?

The first step is understanding where racism comes from -- the underlying psychological and cognitive functions that lead us to see and categorize people by color, according to May Ling Halim, associate professor of psychology at California State University, Long Beach, and Sarah Gaither, assistant professor psychology and neuroscience at Duke University.

Babies as young as three months can distinguish faces by color, and 3-year-olds are fully capable of understanding racial categories, and even the hierarchies that come with them. The trick is to accept that this categorization is normal, and to keep it from mutating into racism.

I have a question on fate and destiny. I'm sure this Sangha has touched on this topic many times in the past, but it seems I can't get my head around this question. We had a family dinner last night, and many of my friends and family members believe that most things are destined to happen, and we cannot do anything about it e.g. we are destined to meet certain people in our life; we are destined to marry a certain person; if something bad happened, then it was fated…. I understand that in Zen, we learn to accept things as they are, and leave these questions aside. The more I practice Zen, the more these questions appear less significant as I focus more on here and now. However, last night I wasn’t sure how to answer those questions so I kept quiet. I have learned from Jundo not to worry about what happens after we died and I can see the logic in that. So I have been wondering how does Zen answer this question on fate and destiny?

Gassho
Van
Satlah
]]>vanbuihttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17852-A-question-on-fate-and-destinyMetta (Loving Kindness) for All in Social Unresthttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17851-Metta-%28Loving-Kindness%29-for-All-in-Social-Unrest&goto=newpost
Sat, 06 Jun 2020 06:51:56 GMTToday, during our Sangha's Zazen gathering, we recited a chant of Metta (Loving Kindness), seeking peace, safety, stillness, health and kindness for --all-- in this time of social unrest in America and elsewhere.

We chant for the peaceful protesters and for members of social groups who feel victimized and abused by the system. But we also chant for looters and the angry violent people who burn and destroy.

We chant for all police, both those who do wrong and great harm, and the many who do not, merely seeking to better the community.

We chant for political leaders, both those who we personally support and those we cannot at all and believe are doing great damage.

We even chant for the truly bigoted, racist and hate filled, and those with lesser prejudices and biases of any kind (which includes all of us to some degree).

Some may find it hard to understand how we can wish peace, safety, stillness, health, contentment and kindness upon racists, police officers who kill with excess force, the hate-filled and violent. It is simple. We chant with the wish that they were not so, that others like them would turn from such ways. We believe that if such people were truly at peace, truly accepting, truly healthy in mind and body, truly filled with kindness, then they would not act in such angry, racist, violent, abusive ways. That is how we chant even for those who act so badly and do others, or ourselves, harm.

Our Metta Chant at Treeleaf goes (using sometimes "they" and sometimes "we," recognizing that we all have the potential to be poisoned by anger and divided thinking):

May we be free of suffering; may we feel safe and still.

May we be free of enmity; may we be loving, grateful and kind.

May we be healthy and at ease in all our ills.

May we be at peace, embracing all conditions of life.

Please recite with us. Doing so can bring feelings of peace, safety, stillness, acceptance and kindness to your heart too.

Sometimes people ask if there is real power in the chant. Well, if we put out words of hate and division on the internet, it certainly has power to cause hurt and division on the other side of the world among those who read it. So, just the same for words of kindness and unity, which have some power to heal.

Gassho, J

STLah
]]>Jundohttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17851-Metta-%28Loving-Kindness%29-for-All-in-Social-UnrestDarkness is asking to be lovedhttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17847-Darkness-is-asking-to-be-loved&goto=newpost
Wed, 03 Jun 2020 16:47:22 GMTDear all
Some words on the situation in the USA from one of our few western Zen priests who is a person of colour, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel:...Dear all

If you are still holding up trying to meditate, I invite you to fall down. Fall down on the earth. Come down here and smell the sweat of terror on your skin, overpowering the scent of agarwood. Come down on all fours and greet the darkness that reeks of death, reaches out its desperate hand and asks to be loved as much as we love the light it gives.

Come down here on this earth and breathe for those gasping for air. Hear each scream as a bell that never stops ringing. Bury your face in the mud of this intimate place, in this shared disease and tragedy.

Of course, she is not literally saying that we should not be sitting at this time but pointing out that there is a time for practice and a time to grieve. For many in the African-American and wider community, this is a time for intense grief and she is calling us to join them and feel what they are feeling.

Our practice is not in ignoring the hard stuff, and the death of George Floyd should be hard for all us, whether we are among those who see our likeness reflected in George's face, or in the face of the police officers and the system of power that supports them.

Thich Nhat Hanh said that the lotus of compassion will not grow without the mud of life, and the first step in that is to get down amongst the dark and the dirt and become intimate with it.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
]]>Kokuuhttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17847-Darkness-is-asking-to-be-lovedBrad Warner on Shikantazahttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17836-Brad-Warner-on-Shikantaza&goto=newpost
Wed, 27 May 2020 12:40:02 GMTHi all
Often when we mention Brother Brad here it is because of some disagreement over Engaged Buddhism or his views on online practice. However,...Hi all

Often when we mention Brother Brad here it is because of some disagreement over Engaged Buddhism or his views on online practice. However, as might be expected from someone who shares the same teacher as Jundo, a large percentage of his views on Zen and Zen practice are very much in line with what we do here, and I find his books to be a reliable source of information on practice and Dogen, even if he and Jundo might vary in some interpretations.

So, as a reminder, here is Brad talking about Shikantaza in relation to Dogen's Mountains and Waters Sutra (and Shohaku Okumura's book on the subject) which I personally find to be very good, as is much of his material.

I personally support Brad on Patreon (although that is not a suggestion that you should also) as I find his talks to be useful, even if I don't agree with them, and am glad he is around to give a different perspective on practice as a very visible member of our lineage.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah
]]>Kokuuhttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17836-Brad-Warner-on-ShikantazaSplit Thread: Socially DIS-engaged Buddhismhttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17835-Split-Thread-Socially-DIS-engaged-Buddhism&goto=newpost
Sun, 24 May 2020 14:05:32 GMT---Quote---
The Zen book that grabbed me was a Brad Warner book. I like his band and give him credit where credit is due in getting me to sit every...

Quote:

The Zen book that grabbed me was a Brad Warner book. I like his band and give him credit where credit is due in getting me to sit every morning. I wouldn't read another of his books and don't watch his YouTube channel because I feel he must have a sore arse from sitting on the fence with everything.

Hi Onka

I must admit I have not noticed that Brad is one for fence-sitting. Can you give examples? Politically he does but that is out of a choice to keep politics out of his Zen (a stance I don't agree with but a stance all the same) and he is pretty clear on his views regarding virtual practice and drugs in Buddhism.

His views and mine often don't match (I am 100% with him on the drug ones though) but I am glad he says what he thinks. Fortunately I missed the gender dysphoria statements as don't think I would have enjoyed those.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-
]]>Kokuuhttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17835-Split-Thread-Socially-DIS-engaged-BuddhismQuestion Regarding Where to Sithttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17830-Question-Regarding-Where-to-Sit&goto=newpost
Fri, 22 May 2020 14:13:23 GMTApologies in advance if this question was covered already somewhere and I couldn't find it.

I know that in our practice, we are supposed to be facing a wall.
But let's say that one day I had the opportunity to practice in a Japanese rock garden.

Would this be OK? Or should I still carve out some time to sit facing a wall?

I know this question seems overly picky, but as I'm new here, I want to make sure that I am practicing well, and in the prescribed manner.
I know that, essentially, "anywhere" is a place for practice, buuuuuuttt I want to make sure that my formal daily practice is in sync with the community here and that my formal practice isn't "sloppy". :)

Thanks in advance for the help!

Gassho,
Eddie
SatToday
]]>Eddie430https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17830-Question-Regarding-Where-to-SitSentienthttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17825-Sentient&goto=newpost
Thu, 21 May 2020 02:37:05 GMTSentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them.
Who are the sentient beings?Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them.

Who are the sentient beings?
]]>Paul Nyimahttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17825-SentientRage-o-Meter 1 Zen Buddhism Practice 0https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17817-Rage-o-Meter-1-Zen-Buddhism-Practice-0&goto=newpost
Sat, 16 May 2020 23:07:12 GMTMy body is in overall pretty ordinary shape at the moment but I'm particularly enjoying swollen feet and legs that are so swollen and hurting that I'm ever so tempted to take a razor to them to ease the pressure.
Of course I won't because although I'm an idiot I'm not so silly to think that this will result in anything other than another trip to hospital and risk of another recovery complication.
So there I was, shuffling along with The Game Changer, my new mobility walker that is tall enough for me to walk with as straight spine. I was following a horse track towards the front paddocks of our place when I came across what I saw as complete disrespect for myself, my partner and the environment.
We lost literally everything including vehicles when 3 metres of water went through our place in the 2011 floods. It completely devastated the environment and literally all biodiversity for 7 years. Since then we have worked hard to provide green corridors of native grasses and weeds while maintaining important fire breaks. We prefer to work WITH nature than against it.
Long winded bollocks later myself and The Game Changer made it to the front paddock where I was faced with what I perceived as utter carnage.
I was exhausted so sat for around 15 minutes on The Game Changer both crying and raging at the same time. I genuinely exhausted so could do nothing but call my partner by phone and alternate between tears and rage.
Our neighbour had taken liberties while I've been out of action for 2 months and had completely cleared almost exactly half of our front paddock. A paddock that homed a family of Wallabies, a shedload of bird species, native bees, butterflies, native hares, introduced rabbits and more than I'll ever know amount of skinks and other reptiles as well as frogs of many different species.
My rage-o-meter was particularly active as I have lost count of how many times in how many ways I had explained to this bloke that he was NEVER to slash our paddocks and if we did actually need help I would do a thorough walk around with him guiding him as to where and what was to be left untouched. I stressed in no uncertain terms the reasons as to why we do what we do in OUR paddocks.
Anyway rant over. Rage-o-Meter 1 Zen Buddhism 0 and this is the thing that hurts me the most.

Gassho
Onka
ST
]]>Onkahttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17817-Rage-o-Meter-1-Zen-Buddhism-Practice-0Creationhttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17812-Creation&goto=newpost
Fri, 15 May 2020 11:40:02 GMTI have a fairly large community aquarium, well planted with tropical fish of all sizes and colours. I was just watching the fish weaving through...I have a fairly large community aquarium, well planted with tropical fish of all sizes and colours. I was just watching the fish weaving through various delicate plants..... and I got to wondering "Why?"..... why are these living animals and plants so beautiful?
I realised then that I do not have an answer at all? This was kind of like a huge emptiness......
Can I ask the very simple question "Why.... Just why?"

Gassho
Tenrai
Sat Today
]]>Tenraihttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17812-CreationHow the Buddha Got His Facehttps://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17804-How-the-Buddha-Got-His-Face&goto=newpost
Mon, 11 May 2020 19:52:45 GMTGreetings.
The Buddha was faceless for 6 centuries after his death. This long interesting article recounts how Buddhism spread and how Buddha was...Greetings.

The Buddha was faceless for 6 centuries after his death. This long interesting article recounts how Buddhism spread and how Buddha was finally given a face.